Chat Thai Cooking Class: Stir Fry Prawns & Noodle Recipe

Acclaimed chef, Chat Thai’s Palisa Anderson shares her recipe for Stir Fry Prawns with Glass Noodles & Ginger.

A farm-to-table chef, Palisa is best known for expanding the family business that began with her mother’s Chat Thai restaurants in Sydney to include several more eateries and stocks them all with organic produce from her Boon Luck Farm in Byron Bay.

Ingredients

• 8 green prawns, peeled and deveined 
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons red vinegar 
• 2 tablespoons palm sugar, chopped
• 1 tablespoon Pearl River premium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon red boat fish sauce
• 50g pork leaf lard, cut into 2cm cubes 
• 150g dried glass noodles, soaked in cold water for 15 minutes
• 2 stalks Chinese celery, finely sliced on the diagonal, leaves reserved
• 3 green onions, cut into batons
• 1 tablespoon best quality sesame oil

Method

1. Peel the body shell off the prawns and make an incision along the back to reveal the vein, and remove it; keeping the head and tail intact.
2. Combine oyster sauce, vinegar, palm sugar, soy sauce and fish sauce. Set aside.
3. Once you have all the ingredients on hand, heat wok or frying pan over a high heat. 
4. Add pork fat and heat for about 5 minutes, until fat is melted and bits of pork meat (lardons) are golden and start to float. 
5. Remove the lardons and set them aside.
6. Add prawns to the wok and fry for a minute or so each side, until a light golden crust forms. Set prawns aside. 
7. Add pounded paste to the wok, reduce heat to medium, and stir-fry for a minute or 2, until fragrant and starting to turn golden.
8. Add glass noodles and celery stalks and toss to combine thoroughly, adding a little water if it starts to look too dry or sticks. 
9. Add oyster sauce mixture and stir to combine thoroughly, cover and cook for a further minute or so, until noodles are lovely and soft and most of the liquid has been absorbed.
10. Add celery leaves, and green onion, remove from the heat, return prawns to the wok and toss through.
11. Serve into shallow bowls, top with coriander leaves and reserved pork pieces and drizzle with sesame oil.